"Try Me", titled "Try Me (I Need You)" in its original release, is a song recorded by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

and

the Famous Flames The Famous Flames were an American rhythm and blues, soul vocal group founded in Toccoa, Georgia, in 1953 by Bobby Byrd. James Brown first began his career as a member of the Famous Flames, emerging as the lead singer by the time of their fir ...

in 1958. It was a #1 R&B hit and charted #48 Pop—the group's first appearance on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In ''Star Time'' (pp. 54–59) D booklet New York: PolyGram Records. It was Brown and the Flames' second charting single, ending a two-year dry spell after the success of " Please, Please, Please".

Background

By 1958 James Brown's career was faltering. After disputes over

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

, songwriting credit, and the indignity of having been relegated to

backup singer A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

s on the billing of "Please, Please, Please", most of the original Famous Flames (including founder Bobby Byrd) had walked out on him; only Johnny Terry remained. Brown continued to perform with a backing band and a new Flames lineup consisting of members of

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

's former vocal group, the Dominions. ("Big Bill" Hollings, Louis Madison, and J.W. Archer). They recorded more songs for Federal Records, but nine of their singles in a row failed to chart. On the way back to

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

, after a disappointing West Coast tour, Brown approached his guitar player Bobby Roach with a tune he said he had been given by a patron at the Million Dollar Palms, a Florida nightclub. After Roach crafted a guitar part for "Try Me", Brown and the Flames worked out the vocal harmonies together and cut a demo to send to label head Syd Nathan. Nathan was impressed with it and arranged for a recording session in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

with producer Andy Gibson and a group of seasoned

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

s. Despite the contributions of other people, Brown took sole writing credit for the song. In his 1986 autobiography, Brown described "Try Me" as "really a pop tune. I had heard ' Raindrops' by Dee Clark and ' For Your Precious Love' by

Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (December 8, 1939 – February 20, 2025) was an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, who were inducted into the Rock and ...

and

the Impressions The Impressions were an American music group originally formed in 1958. Their repertoire includes gospel, R&B, doo-wop, and soul. The group was founded as the Roosters by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and Arthu ...

, so I wrote my song to fit between them."

Reception

Released in October 1958, the song became their first to crack the R&B charts in three years and their first ever to crack the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in December 1958 after their relative failure of "Please, Please, Please" peaking at number 5 on Billboard's Bubbling Under chart (or #105). The song peaked at number one on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

in February of

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

and reached number 48 on the Hot 100. It would stay on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 13 weeks. The song sold over a million copies and saved the Famous Flames from having their contract dropped due to lack of hits following the original Famous Flames disbanding and Brown's struggles to deal with the group and their performances on the chitlin' circuit. The song was also the best-selling R&B single of 1958. "Try Me" was included on the albums '' Please Please Please'' (King, 1958) and '' Try Me!'' (King, 1959).

Personnel

* James Brown - lead vocal The Famous Flames * Johnny Terry - background vocals * Bill Hollings - background vocals * J.W. Archer - background vocals * Louis Madison - background vocals Musicians * George Dorsey - alto saxophone * Clifford Scott - tenor saxophone * Ernie Hayes - piano *

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige Records, Prestige, Blue Note, Verve Records, Verve, CTI Records, CTI, Muse Records, Muse, and Concord Records, Conco ...

- guitar * Carl Pruitt - bass * David "Panama" Francis - drumsLeeds, Alan, and Harry Weinger (1991). "Star Time: Song by Song". In ''Star Time'' (pp. 46–53) D booklet New York: PolyGram Records.

Other versions

Brown recorded an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

version of "Try Me" for the Smash label in 1965 which charted #34 R&B and #63 Pop in the U.S. Performances of "Try Me" appear on '' Live at the Apollo'' and most of Brown's subsequent

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

s. Brown & The Flames recorded a version of "Try Me" with strings for his 1963 album ''Prisoner of Love''.

References

External links

* Song Reviewfrom

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{Authority control James Brown songs The Famous Flames songs 1958 singles Songs written by James Brown 1958 songs Federal Records singles Smash Records singles